Bernard Shaw, one of the pioneer African-American broadcasters, became best known for his role as an anchor with CNN. Before then, he worked for CBS News from 1971 until 1977 and at ABC News from then until 1980. He then joined CNN where he worked until his retirement in 2001.

Shaw won an Emmy Award in 1989 for his coverage of the student revolt in China’s Tiananmen Square. He was also recognized for his reporting on the 1991 Gulf war. While describing the situation in Baghdad, he stated, “Clearly I’ve never been there, but this feels like we’re in the center of hell.” In 1991, the University of Illinois established the Bernard Shaw Endowed Scholarship Fund.

He was born in Chicago on May 22, 1940, and served in the United States Marine Corps from 1959 to 1963. After his discharge, he attended the University of Illinois from 1963 to 1968. Shaw began his broadcasting career in 1964 with WNUS in Chicago.

He moderated the October 2000 vice-presidential debate between Dick Cheney and Joe Lieberman. Shaw co-anchored CNN's Inside Politics from 1992 until he retired from CNN in 2001. He has occasionally appeared on CNN, including in May 2005 when a plane flew into restricted air space in Washington, D.C.

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